POP MUSIC REVIEW : Band Rises to Occasion at Greek

Pressure situation? How about a Southern California band landing a spot on the prestigious “Reggae Sunsplash” tour . . . and having to close the show at the sold-out first of two nights recently at the Greek Theatre?

Big Mountain didn’t appear rattled by that nerve-racking situation during a 20-minute set that included its local radio hit, “Touch My Light.” The San Diego quintet’s strong suit is vocal harmonies in the Steel Pulse/Aswad vein, but it needs to punch the rhythms home harder and work on its big-stage performance techniques.

The five-hour “Sunsplash” package, which comes to the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Saturday, reached its peak when the regal Marcia Griffiths clicked with a memorable, reggae-fied version of Christine McVie’s “Everywhere” and a four-song Bob Marley medley. The closing “Iron Lion Zion”/”Buffalo Soldiers” salvo found Griffiths and the five-piece backing band Skool creating the kind of triumphant positive surge that veterans of Marley concerts well recall.

Griffiths’ performance was even enough to outshine Shinehead for a song--until the Jamaican-born, New York-based deejay plunged into the crowd and rapped his second tune from points in the audience. Shinehead is easily the most electrifying, unpredictable performer of the new deejay school and its cleverest musical pastiche artist. But a lack of consistency made his 40-minute set limp to a close.

Earlier, Majek Fashek’s eight-piece band was just hitting its stride when his 30-minute set ended. The Nigerian singer’s fascinating synthesis of reggae, African and pop strains--which replaces the usual Jamaican grooves with a fast, percussive undertow flavored by talking drum--is loaded with potential, but a muddy mix and Fashek’s curiously lethargic performance undercut the music.

Also appearing was headliner Freddy McGregor and deejay Tiger (both reviewed recently) and the Mystic Revealers. “Reggae Sunsplash” also appears Friday at the Santa Barbara County Bowl and Sunday at the Starlight Bowl in San Diego.